LinkedIn Top Startups 2021: The 10 Saudi companies on the rise

The 2021 LinkedIn Top Startups list reveals 10 young, emerging companies where Saudi Arabia wants to work now.

Saudi startups have been increasingly attracting capital, with funding reaching a record high in 2020, according to Magnitt. The government has been one of the main enablers of the ecosystem, activating legal frameworks or sandbox environments in key sectors like fintech. Those efforts have managed to attract international investors to Saudi businesses, with Softbank recently making its first investment in the kingdom. Thanks to this flourishing startup scene and with economic recovery happening across industries, many Saudi professionals reevaluate the way they live and work, looking for something new, and asking themselves: “What’s next?”

Startups are a natural place to look to for new ideas and innovation. And our first LinkedIn Top Startups list is the resource to find the startups you should be paying attention to right now, reflecting 10 companies that have continued to attract investment, investment and employees in 2021.?

To put together this year’s rankings, we looked at LinkedIn data across four pillars: employee growth; jobseeker interest; member engagement with the company and its employees; and how well these startups pulled talent from our flagship LinkedIn Top Companies list. In order to be eligible, companies must be 8 years old or younger, have at least 30 employees, be privately held and headquartered in Saudi Arabia. (You can learn more about our methodology at the bottom of this article. Also checkout the Top Startups lists in the UAE and Egypt, and in Arabic).

This list is meant to be a resource for you. If you feel like a startup is the right fit for your next opportunity, take a look at who you may know at each company, see what jobs are currently open or dig into a LinkedIn Learning course on one of the top skills among employees.

Check out this year’s 10 Top Startups in Saudi Arabia — and join the conversation using #LinkedInTopStartups.

You can also check out the Top Startups in Argentina, ?Australia, ?Brazil, ?Canada, ?Egypt,?Europe,?India,?Indonesia,?Israel,?Mexico,?New Zealand, and?Singapore, the?UAE.?the UK, and?the US.

Full-time headcount: 300 | Headquarters: Riyadh | Year founded: 2018 | Most common skills: Business Planning, Data Analysis, Sales Management | Most common job titles: Sales Manager, Accountant, Account Manager | What you should know: Sary is a startup that connects micro and small businesses (mainly grocery stores and food and beverage businesses) with wholesalers and FMCGs. It raised $30.5 million Series B led by VentureSouq.

See jobs at Sary | See people you may know at Sary

Full-time headcount: 95 | Headquarters: Riyadh | Year founded: 2020 | Most common skills: Data Analysis, C++, Risk Management | Most common job titles: Customer Care Supervisor, Product Manager, Marketing Associate | What you should know: Tamara is a payments firm with operations in Saudi and the UAE. It offers pay-now-pay later services and allows customers to split payments into instalments.?

See jobs at Tamara | See people you may know at Tamara

Full-time headcount: 167* | Headquarters: Riyadh | Year founded: 2016 | Most common skills: Accounting, Operations Management, Data Analysis | Most common job titles: Operations Controller, Sales Officer, Operations Supervisor | What you should know: The food delivery company has expanded into cloud kitchens through the acquisition of CoKitchens. It is considering listing its shares on the Saudi Exchange’s Nomu.

See more about Jahez

Full-time headcount: 76* | Headquarters: Riyadh | Year founded: 2016 | Most common skills: Accounting, Customer Satisfaction, Budgeting | Most common job titles: Business Development Specialist, Operational Specialist, Operations Manager | What you should know: The Chefz provides food delivery services focused on high-end restaurants. In 2020, it received seed funding from Saudi’s Vision Ventures with the participation of Impact 46.

See more about The Chefz

Full-time headcount: 100 | Headquarters: Riyadh | Year founded: 2016 | Most common skills: Supply Chain Management, Logistics Management, Inventory Management | Most common job titles: Team Lead, Operations Supervisor, Account Manager | What you should know: Salasa offers pick-up, packing, and shipping services to e-commerce companies. It raised $8.6 million from a group of investors in 2020, including AlSulaiman Group, Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC) and 500 Startups.?

See jobs at Salasa | See people you may know at Salasa

Full-time headcount: 153* | Headquarters: Riyadh | Year founded: 2017 | Most common skills: SQL, JavaScript, Analytical Skills | Most common job titles: Sales Specialist, Accountant, Data Analyst | What you should know: Zid helps merchants build their own online platforms and connects them with the supply chain and third-party logistics companies. The startup has raised $7 million in a Series A round led by Global Ventures in 2021.

See jobs at Zid | See people you may know at Zid

Full-time headcount: 100 | Headquarters: Riyadh | Year founded: 2018 | Most common skills: Java, Python (Programming Language), JavaScript | Most common job titles: Marketing Assistant, Operations Administrator, Marketing Specialist | What you should know: The e-commerce platform is known for its ‘try now-buy later’ services, allowing customers to try products in their homes before committing to a purchase. The startup raised $15 million in a Series A funding round led by Impact46’.?

See more about Nejree

Full-time headcount: 160 | Headquarters: Khobar | Year founded: 2019 | Most common skills: Analytical Skills, SQL, Adobe Photoshop | Most common job titles: Business Analyst, Account Manager, Human Resources Analyst | What you should know: Last year, the on-demand delivery services startup received an undisclosed seven-figure USD funding by Mad’a, a private equity firm with investments like Babysouk and HyperPay. The company contracts 300,000 drivers in its network.

See more about Shgardi

Full-time headcount: 110* | Headquarters: Riyadh | Year founded: 2016 | Most common skills: Web Development, Linux, Analytical Skills | Most common job titles: Sales Development Specialist, Software Engineer, Site Reliability Engineer | What you should know: Hala provides digital payment services focused on SMEs. Earlier this year the company raised $6.5 million in a Series A round led by Impact46. It’s also one of the first Saudi fintech companies to receive a full SAMA license.

See more about Hala

Full-time headcount: 172 | Headquarters:, Jeddah | Year founded: 2017 | Most common skills: Operations Management, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Relationship Management | Most common job titles: Team Lead, Management Supervisor, Fleet Manager? | What you should know: Shift inc. provides personalized leasing and automated car rental solutions and long-term contracts in the kingdom.

See more about Shift Inc.?

Share the full list and your thoughts on this year's Top Startups using #LinkedInTopStartups.

Methodology

LinkedIn measures startups based on four pillars: employment growth, engagement, job interest and attraction of top talent. Employment growth is measured as percentage headcount increase over methodology time frame, which must be a minimum of 15%. Engagement looks at non-employee views and follows of the company’s LinkedIn page, as well as how many non-employees are viewing employees at that startup. Job interest counts rate at which people are viewing and applying to jobs at the company, including both paid and unpaid postings. Attraction of top talent measures how many employees the startup has recruited away from any global LinkedIn Top Company, as a percentage of the startup’s total workforce. Data is normalized across all eligible startups. The methodology time frame is July, 1 2020 through June 30, 2021.?

To be eligible, companies must be fully independent, privately held, have 30 or more full-time employees, be 8 years old or younger and be headquartered in the country on whose list they appear. We exclude all staffing firms, think tanks, venture capital firms, law firms, management and IT consulting firms, nonprofits and philanthropy, accelerators and government-owned entities. Startups who have laid off 20% or more of their workforce within the methodology time frame are also ineligible.?

About company insights

*Company insights were sourced from LinkedIn Talent Insights. Data reflects aggregated public member data from active LinkedIn profiles in the relevant country and includes full-time employee profiles associated with the company on LinkedIn. We exclude members who identify as part-time or contractors. Headcounts are provided by the companies directly, unless otherwise noted with an asterisk. Those headcounts are based on LinkedIn data. The insights reflect data as of August 2021.

Reported by: Lynn Chouman and?Salma Altantawy. Editor:?Sandrine Chauvin